IF the growth of Fiji’s methamphetamine market and related criminal activity continues unchecked, it could be at risk of evolving into a state marked by “Narco-violence”.
This warning was issued by Associate Professor of Practice and head of the Pacific Regional Security Hub (PRSH), José Sousa-Santos, during a National Talanoa session on drugs in Fiji.
Prof Sousa-Santos said the expansion of Fiji’s local methamphetamine market in recent years has coincided with a noticeable shift in the type and intensity of violence occurring in communities.
“When Fiji’s methamphetamine market, the local market started to grow, one of the things that we saw was the rise in the kind of violence that we saw on the streets,” he said.
He noted that violence linked to the drug trade has moved beyond street fights involving sticks or rocks, and has increasingly involved more serious assaults.
“We started to see some drug dealers, for example, where people owed them money.
“There were cases where people were put in hospital because of money owed.”
According to Prof Sousa-Santos, incidents of severe violence that initially shocked the public three to four years ago are no longer generating the same level of reaction.
“This happens now, and it no longer shocks the country. It no longer makes the headlines.
“That level of violence is becoming normalised.”
He said recent developments suggests a further escalation.
He pointed to reports of gangs fighting over control of drug distribution areas and cases of people going missing from communities.
“When you see the gangs starting to fight for selling their entertainment, this is now getting our attention.
“When you start to see people starting to get missing from the communities, this is now getting our attention.”
Prof Sousa-Santos questioned how long increasingly serious forms of violence would continue to alarm the public before they, too, become normalised.
“But how long will that level of violence or those kind of activities be seen as not normal before that too becomes normalised?”
Drug violence hitting communities – analyst
IT could be only a matter of two to three years before narco-influence in Fiji reaches a level that is far more
difficult to contain if current trends continue.
That caution comes from Associate Professor of Practice and head of the Pacific Regional Security Hub (PRSH), José Sousa-Santos, who says the country remains at an early but critical stage in the evolution of drug-related criminal influence.
“As the level of violence grows, as the influence of these syndicates spreads throughout the region and influence over law enforcement increases,” Prof Sousa Santos said.
“As challenges to law enforcement and government institutions become dismantled, this allows and creates an environment where narcoviolence becomes extreme.” Prof Sousa-Santos warned that escalation could accelerate once authorities begin directly targeting key figures within the drug market.
He said Fiji is still in the early stages of narco-influence over the State but trends across the region suggest the situation can deteriorate quickly.
He stressed that the current landscape should not be viewed as static.
System-wide approach needed to combat crime
THE country must stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated criminal networks by adopting a coordinated, intelligence-led, and whole-of-system approach.
This was shared by Head of the Pacific program at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, Virginia Comolli saying organised crime thrives in complexity and where institutions operate in silos or laws lag behind evolving markets.
“But organised crime struggles where the states are coordinated, they are intelligence-led, transparent, and adaptive,” Ms Comolli said.
She commended Fiji’s political will to act, noting that declaring the situation a national emergency reflects recognition that incremental measures are no longer sufficient.
“So, the opportunity now is to design a response that is not only strong or reactive and punitive, but smart, is anticipatory, and is systemic.
“If supply of action is only treated as a low-enforcement function, we will always be chasing the problem.”
She urged a comprehensive, systemwide approach integrating justice, finance, health, corrections, and
communities to reshape the environment in which criminal markets operate.
“The question really is not whether Fiji can intercept trust. The question is whether Fiji can stay ahead of the criminal networks behind them. And that, to me, is the real challenge before us.”
Comolli flags gaps in system
FIJI’S current legal and institutional systems may not be fully equipped to tackle the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of organised crime.
Head of the Pacific program at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, Virginia Comolli, said the country faces more than just a drug problem, it is confronting a “convergence problem” where criminal activities overlap and reinforce each other.
“It prompts us basically to ask perhaps some uncomfortable questions to see whether the existing legal
and institutional mechanisms are actually truly fit for purpose in confronting the evolving nature of organised crime,” she said.
Ms Comolli noted that Fiji sits along key transnational trafficking corridors connecting Asia, the Americas,
Australia, and beyond.
She cited a large cocaine seizure earlier this year as a signal of the country’s role within these networks.
“And criminal markets are highly adaptive, they are opportunistic, and they are very strategic.
“They study the weaknesses that exist within maritime routes, customs procedures, financial oversight,
pharmaceutical regulation, and execution systems.
“They exploit gaps between institutions, legal inconsistencies, and delays in responses.”
She said supply reduction alone is insufficient.
“The question really is, are we reducing supply in a way that disrupts systems, or are we simply intercepting shifts?”
Ms Comolli urged a comprehensive approach that addresses the structural and systemic aspects of
organised crime, rather than focusing solely on individual seizures or arrests.
